Herbs

I had a question about herbs. Basically everything I read shows people putting several seeds within 1 starter pot with any herb being basil, oregano, chives, catnip, parsely, spearmint, or rosemary. My question is how much does just 1 seed yield of these things. Are they planting like 10 in a pot just to be sure that 1 germinates and then plan to cut all the others out if many germinate or do you actually need this many to yild something from these herbs. Reason im asking is because when I read the seed packets it says that plants should be 12 inches apart and in a square foot garden that would be like having 1 plant per square and that just doesnt seem like you would get much from it. So could someone please clearify this for me. Thanks.

I typically use a tray for my seeds-- i just evenly distribute them throughout the tray. Once they germinate (sprout) and they're separated into their individual containers until they are established enough to plant in the garden (or where ever their final resting place is). Not all seeds will germinate, but hope fully most will. If you put all of your seeds in to one pot, you can just separate them as they sprout ( I usually wait until each sprout has at least one set of leaves before moving it)-- just treat the roots gently as you pull them apart. But if you were to leave all the seeds in one pot you'd have a lot of plants competing for little space. Which would result in survival of the fittest, and dwarfed plants bc of a lack of root space. I'd spread your herbs out a little more than 12 inches when they're ready to be put into the garden-- I've had oregano, and thyme that had a base diameters of 3.5'. I love growing my own herbs, and cooking with them especially. I hope that helps somewhat. Good luck and happy growing.

eminent said:

I had a question about herbs. Basically everything I read shows people putting several seeds within 1
starter pot with any herb being basil, oregano, chives, catnip, parsely, spearmint, or rosemary. My question is how much does just 1 seed yield of these things. Are they planting like 10 in a pot just to be sure that 1 germinates and then plan to cut all the others out if many germinate or do you actually need this many to yild something from these herbs. Reason im asking is because when I read the seed packets it says that plants should be 12 inches apart and in a square foot garden that would be like having 1 plant per square and that just doesnt seem like you would get much from it. So could someone please clearify this for me. Thanks.

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Ten or twelve plants potted into a 12/16" clay pot is fine. If it get too crowded clip a lot. Or you can turn the pot over and repot into their own pots.... Or two per pot....Herbs ask for very little. Bright light and lean soil

Thanks alot that makes more sense. One more question. I know you said about using a tray. Is a seed starting tray a good starter tray for herbs? Like I have a germination tray with 72 starter cells in it. They are probably 1" cells. Would I just want to use this for starting and pop like 1-2 seeds in each cell and go from there?

I use a few trays that are 15" x 9" x 3" and make small rows in the soil when germinating-- it doesn't have the individual cells. What you have will work just fine, I've used those as well-- you'll just have to transplant to something bigger sooner since those cells are really small. Make sure there are holes in the bottom of each cell (I think they already come that way, but I'm not sure), and once you start to see roots poking out you're ready to upgrade to a larger container. Just handle with care when transplanting as they're not fully established. Good luck man and happy growing.